BEEFSTEAK PUDDING

Half a pound of flour, six ounces of beef suet, two and a half pounds of rump or beefsteak, pepper and salt, one dozen oysters, a quarter pint of stock, Chop the suet finely, and rub it into the flour with your hands, sprinkling a little salt, then mix with water to a smooth paste; roll the paste to the eighth of an inch; linea quart pudding basin with the paste; cut the steak into thin slices, flour them, and season with pepper and salt ; put the oysters and the liquor that is with them into a saucepan and bring it to the point of boiling; then

remove from the fire, and strain the liquor into a basin;

82 THE BREADMAKER’S COOKING LESSONS.

then cut off the beards and the hard parts, leaving only the soft, roll the slices of steak; filling the basin with the meat and oysters; pour in the stock and liquor from the oysters. Cover with paste and boil three hours. Be sure the water is boiling before putting in the pudding.

PORK. SALTING PORK.

Cover the bottom of the barrel with salt an inch deep; put down one layer of pork and cover that with salt half an inch thick; continue this until all your pork is disposed of; then cover the whole with strong brine ; pack as tight as possible, the rind side down or next to the barrel; keep the pork always under the

brime by using an inner cover and clean stones. Sho any scum rise, pour off the brine, scald it, and add we salt. Old brine can be boiled down, well skimuwed, and used for a fresh supply.

CURING HAMS,

Meng up the hams a week or ten days, the longer the tenderer and better, if kept perfectly sweet; mix f 1 good-sized ham one teacup of salt, one table- spoon of molasses, one ounce of saltpetre; lay the hams wm a clean dry tub; heat the mixture and rub well into the hams, especially around the bones and recesses ; repeat the process once or twice, or until all

the mixture is used, then let the hams lie two or three days, when they must be put for three weeks in brine strong enough to bear an egg; then soak eight hours in cold water; hang up to dry in the kitchen or other more convenient place for a week or more; smoke

from three to five days, being careful not to heat the

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longer mix table- y the d rub 3 and til all three brine irs in other moke t the

ANIMAL FOOD. 83

hams. Corn cobs and apple-tree wood are good for smoking. The juices are better retained if smoked with the hock down. ‘Tie up carefuily in bags for the summer.

Pork, fat and lean, sage, pepper and salt, a little summer savory. Chop fat and lean of pork together ; season with sage, pepper and salt, and you may add two or three berries of allspice; falf fill hogs’ guts that have been soaked and made extremely clean; or the meat may be kept in a very small pan, closely covered ; and so rolled and dusted with a very little flour before it is fried. Serve on stewed red cabbage; or mashed potatoes, put in a form, brown with a salamander, and garnish with the above; they must be pricked with a fork before they are dressed, or they will burst.

HAM. [How to boil to give it an excellent flavour.]

Two heads of celery, two turnips, vinegar and water,

a large bunch of savoury herbs, and three onions. In chosing a ham, be sure that it is perfectly sweet. To ascertain this, stick a sharp knife into it near the bone ; when the knife is taken out, it will have an agreeable smell if the meat is sweet. If the meat has been hung for a long time, and it is salt and dry, it would be necessary to soak for twenty-four hours, and change the water often. Put the meat in a large pot with suf- ficient water to cover it; bring it to the boil gradually, and carefully take off the scum as it rises; when on the point of boiling add the vegetables and herbs; let it simmer gently until quite tender, then take it out, strip off the skin, cover with bread raspings and put a paper frill round the knuckle. Four hours will be sufficient for a ham weighing ten pounds,

84 THE BREADMAKER’S COOKING LESSONS.